Time to put down the text toy and make a phone call

In this photo provided by Animal Adventure Park in Binghamton, N.Y., a giraffe named April licks her new calf on ...more

In this photo provided by Animal Adventure Park in Binghamton, N.Y., a giraffe named April licks her new calf on Saturday, April 15, 2017. Her birth was broadcast to an online audience with more than a million viewers. (Animal Adventure Park via AP)

Many people who live and breathe social media will undoubtedly have a somber moment sometime this week when April the giraffe’s Facebook Live feed will be no more.

Sigh.

Several of my friends had turned into voyeurs, checking in on mama April during her intimate moment of birth her baby, who has yet to be named. I suppose that will be their next adventure for the newest member of the Animal Adventure Park family in Harpursville, New York.

The live feed of April in her pen waiting to give birth was apparently captivating for some as more than 230 million live views were seen, according to YouTube. Was it out of mere curiosity, or is it more indicative of where we are as a society when it comes to social media.

The newest form of communication and information sharing allows people around the world to stay in touch or meet for the first time without being in the same time zone or on the same continent. It’s kind of reminiscent of the first transcontinental telephone call in the early 1900s.

It’s a wonder what we ever did before social media came along, much-like today’s age with cell phones, computers and such. Ever seen a newsroom without power?

While social media is a fascinating tool – and often a misleader in facts based on some of the “news” posts – it’s kind of taken something away from regular life, and that’s the real conversations people used to have. Nowadays, the conversation has to be 140 characters or left or requires and app with some sort of weird filter that puts bunny ears on your head, pink shades on your eyes or puts your face on a dancing bumble bee.

That one is really weird.

But, that’s how people communicate today.

My dad has told me stories about how he, my aunt and grandparents who hop in the car – this would have been the mid- to late-1940s – and head northeast from Foard County to Tennessee to visit family. Imagine that. Getting in the car and going to visit someone was a thing.

I’m just as guilt as the next person, so when I’m pointing my index finger at you, I have three pointing back at me.

Folks will take the time to pick up their text toy and send a quick message or spend who knows how long trolling Facebook or Twitter, but are less apt to instead press the phone feature, go through their address book and make a call. I’ve been told even a 10-minute call could mean the world for some.

I suppose it comes down to priorities – memes or moms?

I’m not advocating whatsoever a step back in time to where we don’t have the use of social media. But, there’s something to be said about breaking out of the social norm as it is today and doing the unthinkable by making the call instead of pressing send, even when it’s more convenient.

Social media is a form of socializing, not its replacement.

By the way, the contest to name the baby giraffe will cost $1 a vote – with a minimum of five votes – at nameaprilscalf.com.

I had no desire to view the laboring days of April, nor do I have to name the calf.